Welcome to AttractSocialMedia.com. I am your author, Mike Russo.
Small Business Ownership is near and dear to my heart and it is how I have made a fantastic living for over 25 years with A Brick and Mortar company. Additionally, I have added multi-streams of income with E-commerce, Lead Generation, and Affiliate Marketing.
Marketing has changed! Relationships and Communication, for better or worse is now done via messenger, and other forms of social media. With the Rise of Amazon, Shopify, and WordPress, small businesses must position themselves to sell their products and/or services using Internet Marketing Strategies and Traditional Marketing if applicable.
Internet Marketing- Quick Start Business Plan
- Create engaging content for a targeted audience.
- The targeted audience visits the business website or social media channel and may become a prospect.
- Prospects become customers if there problems and needs are relevant to the product and services being offered.
- Prospects become customers if they feel the business product or services are going to solve their problems and serve their needs.
- Prospects become customers and convert at a higher percentage if they feel the business is reputable via reviews and/or authority.
- Rinse and Repeat
For Example: We provide portable oxygen solutions. So, we write an article on using portable oxygen on a cruise ship. With a little keyword research, and social listening, we find out what oxygen users want to know. We create engaging content, answer the questions and distribute that content to Search Engines, and Social Media Platforms. The content is then circulated and create highly targeted traffic. Our website, is optimized for local maps, and we have reviews, articles, accreditation, etc.
For other less expensive products, we like to list products on Amazon, since buyers trust Amazon, and conversions are very high.
So, who is Mike Russo and Why did I launch AttractSocialMedia.com?
Today, my Regional business is fully managed, by a professional staff. I can devotee more time to helping other small business owners that want to get started in digital marketing. I want to help people interested in entrepreneurship get started, and help them transition from a job to their own business.
I have always been fascinated with the Online Digital Marketing and the ability to make money from anywhere in the world with just a connection to the internet. Yes, I am now making money locally and remotely. Developing multiple streams of income, is the best financial advice that anyone could ever be given.
I am not a rags-to-riches story, but rather a person that worked in a job for 10 years, and wanted my own business to live and work on my own terms. I am going to explain to you how I went from being an employee to a millionaire, back to an employee, back to a small business owner, and finally a digital marketer.
Pro Tips:
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A Little Back Story
25 years ago, I was working in a hospital as a Respiratory Therapist. Although, I enjoyed many aspects of the job, I felt trapped within those walls, and felt I was just living to work. One of my co-workers had a side hustle business, renting out Medical Equipment to patients in the home. The internet was still in its infancy, and there was little information on how to do this, so the idea remained just that, an idea in my head.
Fast Forward a few years, I was no providing respiratory care in skilled nursing facilities, and things were better, since now I was able to leave the facility, and not feel so trapped. I quickly move up to the territory, clinical manager. Then, out of nowhere, the govt decided to cut reimbursement by 100%! Yes, no more Respiratory Care in skilled nursing home in exactly 1 year. The company, I worked for, a huge hospital, decided to drop the contracts in 30 days and let go off all its staff (including me).
So, I created new contracts, partnered up with a co-worker, whom was starting a Medical Equipment Company (the idea on the back burner). We secured 20 contracts and kept all 15 Respiratory Therapists on Staff. We went from zero to 75K a month overnight. We borrowed capital to make payroll until the our first invoices were paid by our new customers.
Life Was Great, but it Would End in 12 months.
We knew it was coming, so we focused on growing that Medical Equipment Company, with traditional marketing. Internet marketing was still not that understood. There was no Facebook, linked-in, and people really didn’t understand Google. ( I wish I made the effort ). So, the bell rang at 12 months. The 1 year fantasy ride was now over. We had to let go of the majority of our Respiratory Therapists, We helped find them work, and kept many as we could. However, the Medical Equipment Company was growing and we were saved at the 12 month buzzer.
Big Pay Day & 5 year Sabbatical
We grew that Medical Equipment Company, and it was later acquired by a National Provider for a Multi-Million Dollar Pay day. I moved to Santiago, Chile, with my family, for 1 year, to enjoy my money overseas.
I had a lot of time to learn about various online business opportunities. I wanted to create a digital video company, but social media was just not user friendly, like it is today. Plus I was a fat cat sitting on a lump of cash. I made the mistake of looking for a perfect opportunity that didn’t exist.
At this time, Skype was just created, so I would stay in touch with family and friends back in the States. Social Media Sites, such as Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, twitter were not around. I also dabbled in the forex and stock market. I learned not to do that. Just like Vegas, I did well to break even. So, I floated around, enjoyed family life and excursions. I like that job!
So, what was next.
After 1 year in Chile, we came back to Jupiter, Florida (Still here today) and invested in an internet business, that focused on Lead Generation and websites. At that time, Myspace was still popular, and email marketing, google seo were the main sources of traffic. The business was very dependent on 1 person, whom had the expertise. So long story short, it was a great learning experience in what not to do. So, after that, I bounced around, spent a bunch of money.
I had to get back into the game of life to stop the cash flow I was hemorrhaging out. 700K and counting. My song was ” I made a million dollars and spent it all”. Great song, but not a good experience.
I dedicated myself to learning digital marketing myself. This was mostly done on the side, after hours. My skills were not yet developed, social media was not yet mature, so it was learning and investing my sweet equity for the future. I just knew, I had to be involved with this internet marketing thing, and it would pay dividends one day.
Re-united With Old Business Partner
My original business partner, gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to acquire a failing Medical Equipment Company with him. I was working as a Medical Device Rep and I loved my job. I was making great money and had a comfy lifestyle. However, the allure of working for myself was too strong, and the business was familiar.
I took another leap of faith, and jumped back into small business ownership.
Life Was Good, Until
The company was growing with good cash flow, with much less effort than the first time around. I was in my forties and so I liked the of life/work relationship.
Then BOOM.
Medicare and Insurers (95% of our revenue) announced a 50% reduction in our reimbursement, so our business would be at 1/2 the revenue, but with 100% of current expenses.
How can any business survive that?
Well, the answer was 60% of small, independent businesses closed their doors and patients were stranded.
How Did We Survive?
Like any business, we had to cut operational costs, move to a less expensive location, downsize staff, wear more hats, negotiate cheaper pricing. But, the main solutions was obvious. We had to make more money, and expand our services and product offerings. We had to move away from Insurance and Focus on Retail. Up-selling and cross selling insurance patients, with new solutions was successful, and plugged the hole in our sinking ship, and the business remained afloat.
The staff was paid, but how do business owners get paid? Net Profit.
We needed more revenue, more profit to pay ourselves.
The answer was retail.
How do we reach new customer in our local area and beyond?
Industry consultants offered turnkey websites.
I knew a new website, for small business, is like a painting in your master bathroom. Only a few will ever see it without traffic.
They offered SEO services, for a premium price, and no guarantees that traffic would ever come. Course, yellow pages, print ads just don’t bring enough traffic and are just good for local citations. So, we had High cost solutions, no guarantees and a lot of questions.
Then something happened.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS & MAPS – This Internet Thing Works using Free Traffic
I came across a blog about Google My Business & Maps, purchased an Udemy course. I followed the course and setup google my business, and verified our location on maps. Following the $19 course (insert link), I optimized our website and made it local seo friendly. My god it worked, free targeted traffic came flowing in, with high conversions.
Sales jumped 30% in the first quarter! It worked!
However, when I dug deeper, I noticed that it reached people around our location in about 10 miles radius. What? We serviced a 50-mile radius and had the ability to sell across the country with some drop shipping.
The potential was awesome, but we were defined in just a 10-mile radius.
Just a sliver of the internet real estate supporting an 8 figure local business. Lets go!
Google Good | Amazon Love it & Hate it!
Google was good to me, so I started with Google Search Ads, and expanded our reach. Again, after a little trial and error, they paid off and we were reaching new customers, outside of the 10 mile radius, and making more sales. WE are also selling on the Amazon marketplace for some products, which is a love/hate relationship. .
The hate part is, Amazon directly competes with our Local Business. Like every other Retail Business we were losing, once low hanging product sales, to Amazon. Amazon is cheaper. Our business is service/product business, so we deliver, measure and setup, and its beneficial for some products and not beneficial for others. Buyers naturally look for the lowest price, even if it may burn them later. Either way, the writing was on the wall, we had to adapt.
The love part is, we sell on Amazon in the United States, and have expanded into the UK and 4 European countries. Margins are much lower, but once setup it can be more of a passive income. This would have been unheard of, for a local business, just a few years ago. More importantly, selling on Amazon has created some great global network of fellow Amazon Sellers.
Selling On Amazon, Introduced Me to Social Media Marketing and my Old Friend Google SEO.
Now, selling On Amazon is, and still is all the rage. You Import Private Label Products (still doing) and sell on Amazon and possibly other marketplaces. No warehouse, no big staff, low overhead, and access to millions of customers. In the early days, you just listed a product (no marketing) and it sold and you made money. Amazon crushes local business, but it also creates many online entrepreneurs. Many of them are one person companies, stay at home moms. In some cases it has allowed many to supplement their income, leave their jobs and work from home or even replace 6 figure incomes.
Today’s Realty –> Just like the Yukon Gold Rush, many prospectors are flooding the Amazon marketplace, but a smaller percentage are making good money. Increasing regulation, required product liability insurance, the high possibility of suspension (losing your selling account) and misleading courses have all made it much tougher for new sellers. Just like any business, there is always risk and reward.
Okay, lets talk about what selling on Amazon has taught me about Social Medial Marketing and Google SEO.
Selling on Amazon has become ultra-competitive for new sellers. Chinese sellers are another factor, but I would need to write an entire article on that. It was apparent, that there was more competition. The millions of Amazon Customers simply don’t’ find your product listing. Just like a new website, your listing is Invisible to everyone but you. Your product pages need external, targeted traffic,which Amazon loves!
Successful Amazon Sellers began to release training on Social Media Marketing. Using Facebook ads, Instagram ads, YouTube, ads Google ads, influencers to drive targeted traffic to your product listing, to increase sales, ranking on Amazon and ultimately sell your product. Sounds Easy, right? Sure, from 30,000 feet up, it all looks pretty easy. Again, each platform, would require a dedicated blog to properly discuss each of these.
Otherwise, these advertising platforms are infinite money pits for advertising dollars. It was not until I ran across 2 individuals, in the Amazon World, whom were both digital marketing veterans. I would learn the basic & most obvious ingredient required to build a long term strategy for both my online and offline businesses.
The “Not So Secret” Ingredient for Online and Offline Business Success- Content Creation
Provide content in the form of blogs (like this one), videos, podcasts, etc. Provide value to reach customers, whether local or globally. Once valuable content is created, you have to distribute it. Just like print advertising, but at a fraction of the price.
So, now I knew the Secret Ingredient and I needed to bake the pie. I had a 30,000 Foot view and I needed a process to create content, generate traffic, learn word press development and design and content distribution for social media and google seo.
Basic Game Plan Initiated:
- Research Keyword
- Create Engaging Content
- Get Ranking
- Make Money
The best part is that I could promote both my Local Medical Equipment Company and Global Amazon Business. They both convert very well once targeted customer hit the page.
Imagine that power –> When you learn to promote your products/services online then your business or Amazon business is just you’re shopping cart to complete the transaction. Point this warm traffic to my introverted rainmakers, and the money comes. More than that the process works, and you can create income.
This can be done from your couch or on in a cafe in ROME!
I love seeing my PayPal emails, when traveling 
or My Amazon Emails
Not to mention other affiliate payment from software, education, and training that I receive daily, weekly or monthly.
Internet Marketing Works
It turns out people love useful content, that will solve problems and bring awareness to new opportunities. People tend to trust businesses and brands that show the effort, by creating content they are looking for. My businesses have spiked in sales, and the amazing part, is the possibilities are infinite. 
THE GOAL OF Attract Social Media
I am going to shine the light on Affiliate Marketing and the creation of insightful and optimized content.
This includes everything from traffic generation methods, website development, design and affiliate marketing strategies for small business owners, whom want new customers.
A path will be given to New Entrepreneurs, whom want to be their own boss or just want to supplement their income.
In fact, I always recommend, that people with Jobs, work on a “side hustle”, to get their feet wet. I will introduce you to a perfect side hustle called affiliate marketing, that will develop you as a digital marketing expert.
I didn’t create it, but I use it and it works! I am not here to create tools, and advanced strategies. I am here to tell you what works and what is worth spending your time and money on.
When you understand that creating targeted content and providing value, cold traffic will become warm traffic and then result in Sales and Opportunity. Whether you have a Brick & Mortar Store, Local Service Business with a website, products on Amazon, a chat bot on Facebook, or an affiliate link, it all starts with content creation and distribution.
25 years later, I am more excited for entrepreneurs, then ever before.
Opportunities are at your finger tips. Just take actions steps and follow through.
Build it and prosper!
If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.
All the best,
Mike
attractsocialmedial.com